System and method for the digital specification of head shape data for use in developing custom hair pieces

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system and method for specifying custom hair pieces using three-dimensional digital acquisition devices. The system and method described herein uses electronic data acquisition techniques to electronically model a customer&#39;s head and hair line characteristics and to electronically record specifications for a custom hair piece. The electronic data containing certain head shape data and hair piece specifications is then electronically transmitted to a hair piece manufacturer for completion of the hair piece.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the design of custom hair pieces. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a system and method for thespecification of custom hair pieces using three-dimensional digitalacquisition devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair replacement systems, such as custom hair pieces, are important tomany individuals that will lose, are losing, or have lost naturallygrowing hair. Preparing such systems can be time-intensive becausecustom hair pieces typically must be personally configured to fit aparticular individual's head and area(s) of hair loss. Presently,businesses that offer custom hair replacement systems manually designand specify hair pieces intended to cover areas of a specific customer'shead by creating a mold template of the customer's head and outliningthe specific areas to be covered before actually building the specifiedhair piece.

To build a hair piece using the known methods, first, the customer'shead, or relevant portions thereof, is tightly wrapped in a plasticwrap, or alternatively a “mold cap” designed for this purpose, which isthen covered in sufficient adhesive tape or other similar means as toenable the wrapping to retain the shape of the head when removed. Next,the area to be covered by the hair piece is outlined on the headcovering using an ink-based marker, and other instructions related tohair color, pattern, texture and other necessary data are marked asappropriate. The head covering is then removed and the excess istrimmed, resulting in a mold template.

The mold template, along with a completed paper form with any additionalinformation and specifications, including identifying data, is sent bypackage-delivery, either directly to a remote factory or, more commonly,to an intermediary distributor who then sends the information to afactory for the manufacture of the final product.

This method, while it has been in use for many years, entailssignificant expense in shipping, and can result in delays before theinstructions get to the manufacturer, ultimately delaying delivery to acustomer. Delays in customs and occasional losses of packages byshipping companies are also hazards of this method. Further, templatesprepared by this method can represent a storage burden and can besufficiently imprecise as to cause or allow imperfections in the shapeof the final product, necessitating remanufacturing, causing additionaldelays and expense.

The need exists in the art for a system and method of creating customhair pieces that cuts down on delay, and is more precise than theprevious systems and methods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention address some of the needs describedabove by providing an electronic system and method of specifying anddesigning custom hair pieces. By utilizing electronic data acquisitiontechniques to acquire information about and model a customer's head, thespecifications of a custom hair piece can be electronically recorded andtransmitted to a hair piece manufacturer.

In one embodiment of the invention, an electronic stylus-based device isused to acquire data about a customer's head size and shape and to tracethe outlines of the area(s) to be covered by the hair piece. Theresulting data is then captured by a computer and used to build athree-dimensional representation of the customer's head, and ultimatelyto electronically specify the areas(s) to be covered by the hair piece.Using specially-designed software, the computer generates an electronicfile based on all of the data related to the customer's head and hairloss characteristics in order to manufacture a custom hair piece. Theelectronic file is then electronically transmitted to a manufacturingfacility for manufacture of the hair piece.

A more detailed summary of the invention and exemplary embodiments canbe found in the detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example in the followingfigures and is not limited by the accompanying figures in which:

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C depict examples of recognizable hair lines, eachwith a recognizable area of hair loss.

FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of the entities involved in the disclosedmethod of creating a custom hair piece.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of one embodiment of the disclosed method ofcreating a custom hair piece.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of the progression of a three-dimensionalelectronic depiction of a partial hair line, as captured by anelectronic stylus device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C exemplify three common patterns of natural hair losson a human head. FIG. 1A depicts a small area of hair loss 110 on theback portion of the head. FIG. 1B depicts a receding hair line 130 nearthe forehead, which typically exists on the right and left sides of theforehead. FIG. 1C depicts a larger area of hair loss 150 covering thetop portion of the head. Individuals with the exemplified patterns ofhair loss depicted in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C could be candidates for customhair pieces as described herein.

In FIG. 2, the overall process and the entities involved in creating acustom hair piece, according to aspects of the present invention, areshown. First, the hair line of a customer's head (114, 134 and 154), aswell as the areas to be covered by the custom hair piece (112, 132 and152) are traced with a device 210 that can render the dataelectronically and store the data in an electronic form such as a datafile 212. There are commercially available devices capable of capturingthree-dimensional data electronically for modeling, as depicted at 120,140, 160 and 210. Once the head shape or hair line data, as well as thedata related to the area to be covered by the hair piece is captured,the data is transmitted via an electronic network 220, such as theInternet or other wireless or dedicated network, to a facility that canmanufacture the hair piece 230. The manufacturing facility completes thecustom hair piece 240, and then the hair piece is sent by themanufacturer to the customer or front-end dealer that placed the order.

FIG. 3 is a detailed flow chart of one embodiment of the disclosedmethod of creating a custom hair piece. The method begins at step 300,where the hair line of the customer's head is traced with acommercially-available, stylus-based electronic device designed tocapture the shape and measurements of a three-dimensional object inthree-dimensional space. The areas to be covered by the custom hairpiece, such as areas 110, 130 and 150 in FIG. 1, are traced with thestylus. The operator utilizes the stylus to trace the head in a mannersufficient to capture all features and shapes relevant to the definitionof the area to be covered by the hair piece. The stylus collects thehair line and head shape data in an electronic form, for furtherrendering on the display of a computer.

In step 310, the electronic hair line and head shape data that iscollected by the stylus is transferred to a computer forthree-dimensional rendering on the display of the computer. Theseresulting data points (referred to as a “point cloud”) are captured by acomputer running software to convert the point cloud data into athree-dimensional representation of the area which has been scanned bythe stylus. Software products that convert point cloud data into athree-dimensional representation are commercially available to thoseskilled in the art. The software then displays the representation on acomputer display device.

Upon completion of this initial tracing, in step 320, the computersoftware program next produces an interpolation of the areas between thedata points called an electronic mesh which is sufficient to define asolid and continuous surface, and displays the resulting object on thescreen. FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of the progression of theelectronic rendering of the head shape and hair line data captured bythe stylus. In 410, an initial three-dimensional representation of thehead shape and hairline data is shown. The next stage is depicted in 420as the computer software program begins to fill in the solid andcontinuous surface and prepare an electronic mesh. The three-dimensionalelectronic mesh depicted in 430 has been fully filled in to form a solidand continuous surface.

In step 330, the operator may then continue to define or trace, bymaking further selections in the software, the specific boundary of thearea to be covered by the hair replacement product, such area typicallybeing a subset of the area initially traced and scanned. The area to becovered by the hair piece may also fall outside the boundaries of thenatural hair line. The operator may further draw and write on thesurface such other instructions and descriptions as may be necessary anddesirable to complete the specifications. Any additional drawings andwritings are captured by the computer software program and displayed forconfirmation or correction.

At step 340, an electronic file is created by the software whichcontains the set of electronic data from which the custom hair piecewill be created. The electronic file, along with such otherinstructions, specifications, and identifying information as may benecessary or desired for creation of the hairpiece, is transmitted usinge-mail or other means to a manufacturing facility, or to an intermediarydistributor who then transmits the file using e-mail or other means to aselected manufacturing facility, step 350. The transmission of theelectronic file can be accomplished by any suitable means, includingpublic data networks such as the Internet, a private dedicated dataline, wireless communication or even standard postal mail.

In step 350, computer software at the manufacturing facility receivesthe electronic template file and formats the data therein so that it canbe used directly by a computer-controlled cutting or carving machinelocated at the facility. Formatting may include adjusting the data to beread by a specific cutting machine. Once the data is in a suitableformat, an electronic carving or cutting machine carves a full-sizemodel or mold using the custom-measured data, resulting in a precisemodel of the customer's head, step 360. The model may then be used bythe manufacturer to produce the custom-designed hair piece, to theprecise specifications and measurements included in the electronictemplate file, step 370. Custom designed hair pieces are usuallyhand-sewn with human hair to recreate an authentic appearance.

In step 380, the resulting product or custom hair piece is then sent bythe manufacturer directly to the distributor, dealer or customer thatplaced the order.

It should be noted that certain aspects of the present invention havebeen described herein, but the invention is not limited to theembodiments described. For example, any device capable of renderingthree-dimensional head shape and hair line data in an electronic formcan be used as a stylus. The following claims demonstrate the breadth ofthe invention.

1. A method of defining characteristics of a human head for use in theproduction of a hair piece, the method comprising: (a) tracing the hairline of the human head with a stylus that registers three-dimensionalposition data to create three-dimensional head shape data; (b) tracingboundary areas of an area to be covered with the hair piece with thestylus to create three-dimensional hair piece data; and (c) storing thethree-dimensional head shape data and the three-dimensional hair piecedata in an electronic data file.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein thethree-dimensional hair piece data is a subset of the three-dimensionalhead shape data.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic datafile is readable by a computer-controlled carving machine to cut a modelof the human head.
 4. A method of creating a hair piece comprising: (a)creating an electronic file containing instructions for creating a hairpiece by: (i) electronically capturing head and hair shape data from ahuman head; (ii) collecting the head and hair shape data on acomputer-readable medium and generating a three-dimensional electronicmesh defining a solid and continuous surface of the human head; and(iii) electronically specifying the boundary of the area to be coveredby the hair piece.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (i) furthercomprises using a stylus-based electronic acquisition device to traceoutlines of portions of the human head to be used for the hair piece. 6.The method of claim 4, wherein the head and hair shape data isthree-dimensional data.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the boundaryof the area to be covered by the hair piece is a subset of the head andhair shape data captured.
 8. The method of claim 4, wherein theinstructions for creating a hairpiece comprise data such as shape of thehuman head, size measurements related to the human head, andspecifications of the area to be covered by the hair piece.
 9. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising: (b) transmitting the electronicfile containing instructions for creating a hair piece to a hair piecemanufacturing facility; (c) employing a computer-controlled carvingmachine to cut a model of the human head based on the data in theelectronic file received; (d) employing the model of the human head toproduce the hair piece; and (e) dispatching the completed hair piece.10. The method of claim 9, wherein (b) further comprises: (i) firsttransmitting the electronic file containing instructions for creating ahair piece to an intermediary; and (ii) transmitting the electronic filecontaining instructions for creating a hair piece from the intermediaryto a hair piece manufacturing facility.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the intermediary is a second hair piece manufacturing facility.12. The method of claim 10, wherein the intermediary is a hair piecedistributor.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein step (c) furthercomprises formatting the data in the electronic file to be directly usedby the computer-controlled carving machine;
 14. A system for creating ahair piece comprising: an electronic device for capturing head and hairshape data from a human head; and software directed to: (i) collect thehead and hair shape data on a computer-readable medium and generate athree-dimensional electronic mesh defining a solid and continuoussurface of the human head; (ii) electronically specify the boundary ofthe area to be covered by the hair piece; and (iii) create an electronicfile specifying instructions for creating the hair piece.
 15. The systemof claim 14 wherein the electronic device is a stylus-based electronicacquisition device.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the head andhair shape data is three-dimensional data.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein the boundary of the area to be covered by the hair piece is asubset of the head and hair shape data captured.
 18. The method ofsystem 14, wherein the instructions for creating the hairpiece compriseinformation such as shape of the human head, measurements related to thehuman head, and specifications of the area to be covered by the hairpiece.
 19. The system of claim 14, further comprising acomputer-controlled carving machine configured to cut a model of thehuman head based on the instructions in the electronic file
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the computer-controlled carving machine isfurther configured to format the data contained in the electronic fileto be directly used by the computer-controlled carving machine.
 21. Amethod of creating a hair piece comprising: (a) creating an electronicfile containing data for creating a hair piece; (b) employing acomputer-controlled carving machine to cut a model of the human headbased on the data in the electronic file; (d) employing the model of thehuman head to produce the hair piece; and (e) transmitting the completedhair piece.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the data for creating ahairpiece comprises data such as shape of the human head, sizemeasurements related to the human head, and specifications of the areato be covered by the hair piece.
 23. A system for creating a hair piececomprising: an electronic device configured to capture head and hairshape data from a human head; software directed to create an electronicfile containing instructions for creating a hair piece based on the headand hair shape data; and a computer-controlled carving machineconfigured to cut a model of the human head based on the data in theelectronic file.